


Nurse Steebie

by quartermile



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bubble Bath, Bucky has a cold, M/M, Steve likes to take care of Bucky, and make him smell like lavendermint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2756486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartermile/pseuds/quartermile





	Nurse Steebie

_Clang._

_Clang._

_Clang clang._

"I swear on everything Tony Stark, if you don't stop I will maim you." Bucky snaps suddenly and Tony pauses, a refrigerator magnet in his hand as he prepares to have it join about six others along Bucky's metal arm where he'd been throwing them.

"Whoa, easy there Cyborg. What's up with you?" Tony asks. Bucky usually has no qualms with Tony's fascination with his arm, especially since Tony had designed and built him a new one that had no ties to Hydra. And especially one that was attached with his permission this time. Bruce had been the one to perform the surgery, having had quite more of a medical background than anyone realized. Though Tony had to be present to instruct which nodes went into what areas of Bucky's nerves so he could continue to move it freely.

Only today he seems to have a thin fuse of patience for the genius' antics. It's unusual, given that Bucky's had a quite a long streak of pretty good days, spanning almost a year now without too horrible of a panic attack or flashback.

"Nothing," Bucky bites, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Buck, what's going on?" Steve asks, taking the seat next to him. As soon as he feels the supersoldier's presence beside him, Bucky leads over onto the strong shoulder, "Jesus, Bucky! You're burning up! I can feel it through my shirt!" Steve exclaims, a hand going to the brunette's forehead.

"Bruce, do you have a thermometer?" Steve asks, though it's a pretty stupid question. Of course he does, though Steve feels more polite asking that than _where is your thermometer_.

"There's one in the bathroom," Bruce replies, gesturing with the spatula he's cooking with to the doorway that leads off of the common room to the communal bathroom on that floor.

As Steve jumps up to go fetch, Bruce hands off his spatula to Tony who just stares blankly at it. Bruce is too focused on seeing if Bucky is okay to remember that Tony is not allowed with kitchen equipment besides the coffee maker and juicer. For being a genius, the man sure can't cook worth a shit.

He places a hand on Bucky's forehead, the corners of his mouth turning down as he feels the heat radiating from the man's skin. He's used to the Avengers not reporting ailments, but it seems Bucky hasn't been feeling bad for long. That may also mean he's just coming down with whatever it may be.

"How long have you felt bad, Bucky?" Bruce asks, his professional voice sticking out slightly, though he tries to hold it back. He knows Bucky dislikes figures of authority. Hell, he does, too.

"Woke up this morning. My head hurt. Not very unusual for me," he says, referencing the residual headaches he gets. After seventy years of in and out of cryo-freeze and brain scrambling, it's not a surprise.

"Anything besides that? Nausea? Chills? Sore throat? Coughing?" Bruce asks.

"No, I'm just hot," Bucky replies.

"That's probably from the fever. There's a good chance it's probably just a cold. I'll give you something for the fever, but I'd rather do full check up if you'll allow," the doctor replies, getting a sort of grunt from Bucky.

Steve comes back then, holding out a thermometer, "Open up, Buck." 

Bucky obliges immediately, letting Steve place the cool tip under his tongue. As they wait, Steve rubs his back gently, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

"I'm the one who takes care of you, Stevie. You're the one who gets sick."

Steve lets out a small laugh, "Buck, that doesn't mean you never get sick." then he turns to Bruce, suddenly worried, "Didn't we say that the serum fights off germs and protects us before we can get sick?"

Bruce gives a small shrug, looking up at Steve over his glasses, "I know for sure that Dr. Ernskine's does. Bucky was given a different version of the serum, well, Zola's experimenting. And he had never been out of cryo for long enough to know whether he'd get sick or not. So there really isn't enough data..." 

The thermometer beeps then and Steve takes it out of Bucky's mouth, studying it with a frown, "One hundred and one."

"Low grade fever," Bruce murmurs.

"Back to bed, Buck-o," Steve orders, reaching out a hand to the brunette and waiting for the groggy man to take it.

Bucky pauses to pluck off the refrigerator magnets currently stuck to his arm, the soft whir of his arm recalibrating the only sound for a few moments until he finally takes the blonde's hand and stands, allowing himself to be pulled from the room.

-=-

Bucky'd fallen asleep pretty soon after Steve had taken him back to the bedroom and he and Bruce had managed to convince Bucky that cough syrup isn't scary. Steve holds him securely to his chest, rubbing his back gently as he listens to his best friend turned lover's breathing. It's far more calming than he anticipates and it doesn't take long for Steve to be asleep either. 

-=-

"Steeb..."

"St _eeb_." Bucky repeats, using his flesh and blood hand to shake gently at Steve's shoulder. He's still wary about touching him with the metal one.

Steve startles awake at once, looking around the room wildly before settling his gaze on Bucky, "What's wrong, Buck?"

"My nose is duffy, Steeb," Bucky tells him, his full lips parted so he can breathe.

Steve can't help but laugh, raising his head, "Oh Buck," he says, reigning in his laughter at the indignant expression on his boyfriend's face. He reaches up to press the back of his hand to Bucky's forehead to check his temperature, "You don't feel too much warmer than you did when we took your temperature so tht's good. Hopefully it is just a cold. How are you feeling?" he asks, really more just to hear the adorable stuffiness.

"Duffy," Bucky replies, "I feel like my 'ead is duffed wid cotton balls."

Steve holds back a chuckle, reaching over to grab the box of tissues on the nightstand and passing it to Bucky.He takes a few, blowing his nose and throwing them into the garbage can across the room with careful precision.

"Come on. Let's get you in the tub. A hot bath will probably help," Steve suggests, reaching out and poking Bucky's pink tinted nose. He'd better hope Tony doesn't see or he'll earn a new nickname - Rudolph.

Bucky gives him a nod but rests his head back on the pillow, "Alright Nurse Steebie. Do you hab one of dose sexy outfits?"

Steve lets out a loud laugh, rolling his eyes, "Of course you'd say something like that. No I don't but I'm sure Tony has one if you want me to call him in here."

"No!" Bucky replies with a put upon shudder, closing his eyes and pulling the covers over his head.

Steve smirks, pecking the other soldier's cheek as he stands from the bed, walking into the bathroom in his suite to draw a bath in the clawfoot tub that Tony had insisted he install in every bathroom. Steve hadn't cared much for it before now but now he's quite thankful. A nice bath would be more beneficial to Bucky he thinks, given that he can sit and relax instead of a shower with water beating down on him. He doesn't like that much. 

He turns the hot water on, letting it fill up about halfway as he sets out a towel and washcloth, the fluffy ones that he reserves for times he wants to relax - really, he figures he should've known he was gay long before he did. He opens his cabinet to find the bath oils that Coulson's friend Skye had stocked, he isn't sure why she thought of he and Bucky but Tony had looked possitively gleeful about it and well, they are amazing. He finds the lavender one, the calming one, and peppermint, which is recommended for sickness, and adds a few drops of each to the bath. 

Once the tub is half full of hot water, he turns the cold on as well to make it a slightly-warmer-than-lukewarm bath. Bucky's favorite.

Once full, he turns the water off and follows the sound of stuffy breaths to his boyfriend, leaning against the doorframe, "Bath's ready, Buck."

"Carry me," Bucky mumbles into the pillow he's laying on, "Steeb. I don' like being sick."

Steve laughs deeply and walks over to the bed, nudging the man but not lifting him up, though he could, "C'mon, you can walk."

"Oh come on, Steeb! You got dose super soldier muscles! Put 'em to use! I'll make it up to you!" Bucky wheedles, giving him a pleading look.

Steve rolls his eyes in mock exasperation before lifting the soldier off of the bed. He knows he's fully capable of walking but there were plenty of times in his pre-serum days that Bucky carried him all over the house when he was too weak to walk himself. The least he could do is carry Bucky to the bath.

"Did you make me a bubble bad?" Bucky asks with a teasing grin.

"Yes I did. Now hush before I dump you into it, clothes and all," Steve warns, though they both know it's an empty threat, "Help me get your clothes off."

"Oh, tryin' to get me naked?" Bucky teases, hand sliding south on the Captains chest, though the sexy factor is null when he sniffles and sneezes.

Steve gives a loud laugh and pulls Bucky's shirt over his head for him, biting back the sharp inhale like he does every time he's taken by surprise the mess of scars joining sleek metal to flesh on his shoulder, "C'mon, in you go." he encourages, holding a hand out for Bucky's to help him into the tub.

Bucky hesitates, switching his left hand for his right one to take Steve's, bracing the metal one onto the tub and climbing in. Steve doesn't say anything, even when he nearly falls given the awkward angle because of the hand switch, just helps him settle into the mass of bubbles.

"You know, if you were able to smell right now, you'd probably yell at me for making you smell like a girl," Steve teases, making Bucky laugh as he leans back against the porcelain, "but they're essential oils. It's a somewhat new thing. They're supposed to help calm you and fight against colds and junk."

"Swell," Bucky murmurs, the warm water soothing aching muscles that he hadn't even noticed were achy.

"And you get to smell like flowers and mint," Steve grins.

"Punk," Bucky says, opening one eye to half-heartedly glare at him.

"Jerk," Steve says back, filling a cup with water and pouring it over Bucky's head to wet his hair. Little droplets of water fly as Bucky blows the water from his mouth, "You could've warned me.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Steve teases.

-=-

After a wrestling match that could rival an tantruming child, Steve gets Bucky dried and into his pajamas. He settles him on the bed, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders to keep him warm and to prevent the damp tendrils of hair from soakng water through his shirt to his skin.

"You're like a little doll," Steve muses, running a brush through the slightly tangled mop of hair. Bucky had elected to keep his hair longer, though he does get it trimmed often, but he forgets to brush it - or so he say. Steve is pretty sure he just enjoys when Steve does it for him.

"Me? A _doll_?" Bucky asks, dubious. 

"I mean, assassin training aside, you really are," Steve says, pushing a steaming cup of soup into Bucky's hands and placing a box of tissues beside him, "I like taking care of you, Buck. I'm glad I'm not always so sick all the time. I always felt so bad you were forced to take care of me."

"I wasn't forced, pal. I wanted to. I love you Stevie. I always have. Even then," Bucky replies softly.

Steve's eyes soften, placing a hand on the back of his neck and leaning in for a kiss.

Bucky sneezes.


End file.
